


What Caused the Snap?

by MoonSilverSprite



Series: Buzzfeed Unsolved - Fictional Disappearances [4]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Aliens, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Death, Disasters, Mortality, POV Outsider, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-18 13:42:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19335685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonSilverSprite/pseuds/MoonSilverSprite
Summary: Today on Buzzfeed we look at what caused the Dust Rapture in 2018. As well as what happened to the world afterwards...





	What Caused the Snap?

So guys, you’ve been asking us for this one for a long time, so we finally got this under way. What caused the Dust Rapture? This is a little different from our usual, guys, but we just wanted to give this out for anyone who does not realize what happened yet. Maybe you were a hermit.

_Actually, it’s been called a lot of names, but the Avengers called it the ‘Snap’._

Dust Rapture is what the majority of the world calls it.

_OK. In May 2018, there was a reported attack on New York. An alien spaceship was seen hovering over the buildings and there was a lot of supposed chaos. Afterwards, Tony ‘Iron Man’ Stark was reported missing._

You think aliens took him?

_No shit, Sherlock. Of course they did._

But things got worse. About twenty-four hours later, something…happened across the world. And according to the Avengers, beyond.

_Half of the world vanished into dust. It was indiscriminate; men, women, children, pets…all vanished, some in front of loved ones. People lost families, parents lost children, children lost parents –_

There are several reports of children, some barely old enough to walk, wandering the streets calling for help. Others were seen in the days after the supposed decimation but disappeared after talking to strangers who said they were helping. Most have not been found. The NCMEC didn’t even bother placing up flyers. There were far too many people missing.

_When something like this happens, stranger danger goes out the window._

To make some matters worse, sick and elderly patients died in hospitals and hospices days or weeks after their loved ones became dust. Others were left without a purpose in life. The suicide rate skyrocketed amongst certain groups, namely young people. Drug and alcohol abuse also went up. Deaths by illnesses that could have been prevented by organ donation ceased due to a lack of available doctors or the donors having simply disappeared.

_It happened here, as well. My – colleague vanished. He was driving in the countryside –_

We discussed this on Peter Quill’s video. Still, he managed to make some videos by himself. Good on you for that, dude.

_You’re welcome._

You’re hugging me. That’s…awkward.

_About three weeks into the disaster, humanity had some answers. Tony Stark had returned, via spaceship. Not the same one, by the way. He told the rest of the Avengers that an otherworldly creature had somehow been responsible for this. It was the same across the whole universe._

Humanity struggled at first. But we managed to climb out of the hole. New orphans were adopted, sometimes by couples trying to fill the void left by their…dead… _(sighs)_

_Same happened with pets. Those without homes any more, due to numerous reasons, went to refugee camps, mainly set up at churches and old prisons. But we carried on. Many sports events were cancelled and very few entertainment medians carried on._

A lot of people became vegan, oddly enough. They said that fewer animals meant greater chances of extinction. There’s always a silver lining.

_Captain America Steve Rogers attended support groups for those with difficulty moving on. Bruce Banner stayed somewhere between himself and Hulk and became popular in this horrendous time. He kept telling children about life in space, where he was a gladiator for an unbelievably homosexual ruler._

Those sound like the weirdest gladiator games I’ve ever heard. Wish I could watch.

_It isn’t just Earth that suffered, as we said. Reports from other planets are vague, but apparently there was one where everybody looked like a praying mantis that had fallen into disarray. Partly because their planet’s main religious texts stated that the end of days involves everyone turning into dust while those ‘unworthy’ stayed behind._

Oops.

_That’s all you say? A – a whole planet’s religion involves everyone either turning into dust or being deemed not good enough for the afterlife and you say ‘oops’?_

I’m actually imagining a bunch of praying mantis aliens singing choir.

_(wheezes)_

When Tony Stark was approached by a reporter six months on, he finally found the billionaire in a secluded area, with his then-pregnant wife Pepper, but all he managed to work out was that something occurred off-world.

_An excerpt from the article is below._

‘Stark seems extremely unhappy. He sits on the porch beside Pepper, digging his nails into his clothes. He is in a complete trance, barely registering anyone is in front of him. Maybe he thinks he is somewhere else. Further away than any of us can know. In the deafening silence, his hands change position, as if holding something – or someone. His fists clench, unable to let whatever it is go. But what terrifies this reporter is that the world has never seen – and perhaps Pepper has never seen – Mr Stark so close to tears as this moment.’

_There were comments from all sorts of people, which we will read out below, on our channel when we – I asked people to get thoughts off their chests._

From Allison in Missouri, “My grandparents died and they were all I had left. I’m Allison and I’m seventeen years old. I now live in converted housing with other teens and half of them are on drugs.”

_From Dirk in Texas, “I was studying as a doctor when my dad and my big sis died. My mom just watches bad TV and stares into space. Not even our cat lived. But I’m looking up because I’m getting paid more to help injured guys. I’ve been off my feet for 28 hours.”_

From Roger in Virginia, “It’s so unfair! My best friend and his wife died (and the goldfish I suppose, but nobody cares about him). His kids lived; a whiny little thing who spends his days playing D&D and a pot-smoker and her boyfriend who have taken up more pot. But half of my personas have gone and it’s just unfair!”

_Sorry, what?_

Never mind. The world went like this for a little over five years. Then, just as sudden as it had begun, everyone began appearing again. Sometimes this ended in joyful reunion and a torrent of questions.

_But others weren’t so pleasant._

People came back to homes where their families moved out and new tenants or owners lived there. Some ended up in bedrooms. Right as the new owners were – It wasn’t pretty.

_In other cases, some found their family members dead. Either from accidents caused by the Dust Rapture, natural causes, particularly in older people or, as we mentioned, suicide._

In cases of older people and anyone close to death, it was hard because that meant – well, they’d die again pretty quickly.

_You came back, dude._

But whatever had happened, Tony Stark was dead. At his funeral, by his lakeside home in an undisclosed location, everyone he touched came to pay respects.

_It’s where we got footage of the guy who may be Peter Quill, if you were interested._

Aliens in suits. That just seems bizarre.

_Steve Rogers disappeared from public view. An associate of Mr Stark, Natasha Romanov, also disappeared and was named dead. As for the rest of the Avengers, they cannot be reached for comment by anybody._

That’s all from us. We hope this helped fix some matters.

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't help adding an _American Dad_ reference in here. If anyone has any ideas for what I should do next, just ask.


End file.
